My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 546

“Huh…?”

“When kidnappers abduct someone, they usually have a vehicle waiting nearby, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, would there be more businesses or houses along the road?”

“Huh…?”

Lee Ji-soo’s eyes widened at those words. The incident occurred on a roadside, on the way to the subway station.

“In cases like this, witnesses are actually necessary.”

“Wait, you need witnesses?”

“Yes, witnesses are needed for safety.”

“Why?”

“It’s simple. Let’s say they kidnapped someone in a back alley where no one is around. But is it really possible that there are no witnesses in such a place?”

There might be CCTV [closed-circuit television], or someone might look out the window because of the noise.

No, women don’t even go to such places in the first place. Even if that’s the shortcut to their house, they usually go to brighter places where there are people because of anxiety.

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. In that situation, the police would investigate.”

Jo Sang-gyu’s face hardened. In that case, the police have no choice but to investigate. Because CCTV doesn’t have audio.

The same goes for the person who saw it at home and reported it. If they are far away, they won’t be able to hear it, and if they watched with the door closed, they won’t hear anything.

“There was CCTV at the scene this time.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, someone might have seen it. Then what would the police who were dispatched from the scene have heard?”

“I see. The locals would say it’s nothing.”

The locals would tell the police who came to investigate the obvious: the family came to pick up the woman who cheated, and the woman who cheated didn’t want to go.

“Looking at the police’s situation, it would end there.”

From the police’s point of view, there’s no reason to get involved in a family dispute.

“So, they deceived the witnesses?”

“That’s right.”

The psychological trap that Park Do-joon mentioned isn’t simply about not reporting it. By deceiving them, they are ultimately manipulating them into giving testimony that is favorable to the criminals.

“But to do that, you need to know the area and the people in the area to some extent.”

“Need to know to some extent?”

“Yes, because if something happens, the act of calling the police unconditionally may be widespread.”

In fact, some people call the police no matter what happens. That’s because they think it’s better to do that than to get involved and fight directly.

Since they won’t see each other again anyway, and who would come to the store looking for trouble?

“Wait, then do you think someone did a preliminary investigation in that area?”

“Because it’s a planned crime.”

I can’t ignore the possibility of unplanned kidnapping, but planned kidnappings will definitely be approached with more caution.

“Of course, there will be another third party.”

The guys who pretended to be family at the time clearly said they didn’t know them around.

“The guys who disguised themselves as family may be walking around normally, right?”

“Absolutely not. If they know each other, they may step in to stop them. If they know each other, they can’t attack each other, but on the other hand, they can’t say anything to each other.”

“Yes?”

“It’s not strange to step in and separate them, saying, ‘Let’s calm down first.'”

“Ah!”

If they know each other, they can stop them. So, of course, they have to be strangers.

“That means there’s someone else, another member.”

“That’s right.”

Someone to check the atmosphere, stop someone from interfering, and lie to the police when they come.

“If you ask the local merchants, you’ll probably find out something, right?”

Park Do-joon said confidently.

“Because someone must have visited recently.”

Perhaps the family members thought they were the criminals and cut off their tails for sure. But would the guy who was watching the situation there really do that?

If he hides himself so tightly, he can’t get close to the merchants.

“They probably know the merchants.”

And Park Do-joon thought that if he tracked that guy, he might be able to catch the criminal’s tail.

# Scout?

Scout. That’s not a word only used in the military.

Even in the case of criminals, organizations that operate systematically have scouts.

“Usually, it’s the guys who are called errand boys in the organization who are in charge.”

Before being mobilized for full-scale crimes within the organization, they are made accomplices to prevent them from running away. At the same time, they are screened out, and they are made to scout or guard.

“Their job is usually nothing special.”

They are given all sorts of chores or trivial tasks, so-called errand boy duties.

Directly involving them in actual criminal acts directly ties them to the crime. If you put an unprepared guy into the crime, they may feel guilty later and confess. So, the first thing they do to prevent such a situation is to drive away the people around them or warn them when the police are coming.

“That’s usually the case. But organizations with good heads act in reverse.”

Jo Sang-gyu nodded as if he knew it too.

“Act in reverse?”

“In the case of scouting or surveillance, it’s a more important task than the guys who do the main operation.”

“Yes? Is that important?”

“Yes. Everyone who has been to the military knows.”

Park Do-joon and Jo Sang-gyu both know because they have been to the military. Scouting and surveillance are very important positions in the military. Why else would they train a unit that specializes in it separately?

“The gangsters seem to think that they can just stand there.”

If the guy who was watching is slow to react, they can all be arrested, or if things go wrong, he can betray them and put them all in jail.

If one person is missing from the scene of assault or intimidation, someone else can fill it, but surveillance is done by at most two people, usually one person, so if you make a mistake, you’ll all be arrested.

“There have been cases where the guy who was watching got scared and ran away when the police sounded the siren and were dispatched, and the gang was all arrested.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“But is this important?”

“It’s important. These guys are smart. So, they know a lot about information warfare such as scouting and surveillance.”

And by its nature, they would have tried to find information and use it somehow.

“You think about it too. If you ask a gangster to do that, do you think it will work?”

“It would be difficult for sure, right?”

Getting information is synonymous with winning that person’s heart. Of course, if it’s some objective information, such as the password of the safe, you might be able to find out by beating or threatening the person.

“But if it’s not objective information, you can’t find out with such threats.”

Because it’s a personal characteristic.

“You can’t prevent reporting through threats either.”

“I guess so.”

At first, they may be scared and not report it. But realistically, will the merchants report the threats after they leave?

“So, there must be someone who has been getting along with them recently while making friends with them.”

Park Do-joon smiled and said.

“However, the mistake they make is that the more I get close, the more my information flows out.”

Of course, a professionally trained government agent can extract information from the other person without showing their true self. But that’s only limited to people who have received proper information warfare training.

“Such a guy wouldn’t be flattering those guys under the gangsters.”

Of course, there are people who are born to be friendly with others. But such guys can hide themselves and monitor them, but they can’t hide themselves.

“But if someone asks if they are close now, will they tell them? Or I don’t think they will even remember?”

A merchant is a job that meets so many people. You can’t say you’re annoyed to someone who pretends to be friendly. Park Do-joon smiled at Lee Ji-soo’s question.

“What did I say?”

“Yes?”

“I said that if the result of the question doesn’t come out, you should think that the question is wrong, right?”

“You did.”

“Being close? That’s a personal area. They may have responded as a customer. So, asking ‘Do you have anyone you’ve become close to recently?’ is a meaningless question now.”

“Then?”

“The question you should ask at times like this is…”

Park Do-joon opened his mouth, raising his fingers.

“So, is there anyone who buys things often recently?”

“Yes. They buy things often, so it seems like they need a lot of things that they use often, but they buy small amounts often, not a lot.”

“Hmm.”

The convenience store owner hesitated a little at those words. He had to think about whether there was such a person.

“They must have bought quite a lot of things from snacks to miscellaneous items, right?”

This convenience store is located right in front of the scene of the incident. Of course, he saw the scene of the incident with his own eyes.

‘In other words, this location is where you get hurt if there’s a fight over an affair.’

In addition, this convenience store is a safe convenience store [a designated location for people to seek help in emergencies]. A safe convenience store means a convenience store where you can ask for help in case of an emergency on the street.

And if a report comes in from such a place, the police will be dispatched quite quickly. That’s because they give the title of safe convenience store under such conditions.

‘But the convenience store didn’t report it.’

That means the convenience store owner didn’t know, or he knew but ignored it. There’s no way he didn’t know about the commotion, so he ended up knowing but not doing it…

‘You have to be very close to know that tendency.’

Will they faithfully report by phone every time there is an accident just because it is a safe convenience store? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s called a safe convenience store, but in fact, Park Do-joon sees it as just covering his eyes and making a sound.

If you ask for help at a convenience store, it is likely to be late at night when people don’t go around. Will there be many part-time workers at that time? Of course, there is only one.

Even if someone comes and asks for help, there is nothing they can do except report it. They say they can dispatch quickly, but in reality, it’s not like the dispatch is faster just because it’s a safe convenience store. There are no dedicated police officers assigned.

So, the title of safe convenience store is closer to the convenience administration of the police who want to put on a show without spending money.

They have to raise some performance, but they can’t spend money, and they can’t just stay still, so they are watching.

But if you report it at a convenience store, you have to be dispatched anyway, and most of the places that are open 24 hours are convenience stores, so they just put the name of safe convenience store and raise it as a performance.

“Um, that’s…”

The convenience store owner is watching Park Do-joon. He must have thought that he was saying something about not reporting it with the title of safe convenience store.